'Iron Claws on Malaya': The Historiography of the Malayan Emergency

Authors such as Anthony Short and Richard Stubbs have suggested that the Emergency was at a stalemate in 1951, and that 'hearts and minds' measures or the leadership of Sir Gerald Templer subsequently transformed the British campaign. By contrast, this article argues that the Emergency reached a critical point as early as 1951-52, and that Britain's success was based less on the wooing of 'hearts and minds' than on 'screwing down' Communist supporters through population control measures, an approach which proved effective because of local ethnic, social and political patterns.
This article addresses the historiography of the Malayan Emergency (1948-60). It does so by challenging two archetypal works on the conflict: those of Anthony Short and Richard Stubbs. These argue [...]